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Trump Begins Middle East Tour in Saudi Arabia; Global Markets Show Mixed Reactions to the U.S.-China Tariff Cut Deal; Sean Diddy Combs' Trial Against Sex Trafficking is Now Underway. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 13, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
NABIH BULOS, MIDDLE EAST BUREAU CHIEF, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Saudi Arabia's GDP for one year. So, I mean, I think it's important to note for your viewers that the numbers will probably be less than that in terms of investments, but we're also talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the U.S. when it comes to various projects. The excitement is actually palpable.
I mean, if you go around the streets, actually, there have been a lot of closures in Riyadh, the capital. It was actually quite a bit of an odyssey to get to the venue today. And of course, all the highways are festooned with U.S. and Saudi flags.
In fact, I know that yesterday, the AIXR had visited this big technology park in Riyadh as well. And I mean, all this amounts to essentially a, again, as I said, a big commercial for Saudi Arabia right now in terms of investment opportunities and working, I have to say.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And what are some of the other events, too, that will be going on? Because we know, of course, the crown prince will be meeting. It'll be the meet and greet with the crown prince and other royals.
And then there are events set out for the course of the day. I mean, there's all of that, some tradition involved, as well as some of these agreements and deals. Talk to us about what's expected with that.
BULOS: Well, I mean, at the same time right now, we actually have a fairly extensive speaker list coming to the summit here. And actually throughout the day, we'll have sessions, roundtable sessions, various plenary sessions with people such as, I guess, a Palantir CEO, Elon Musk, etc.
Now, it remains to be seen how much access we in the press will have to those sessions, I should add. But at the same time right now, it seems that actually this is going to be, I mean, a series of discussions involving, you know, I guess, different genres of investments, whether that's health care, as I said, A.I., cybersecurity, and very much tourism and really developing Saudi Arabia. I mean, it should be noted that although this is a developed economy, of course, and has a lot of money, there still is much room for expansion and development.
And that really is the key point of this conference.
CHURCH: Nabih Bulos, thank you so much for talking with us. We'll come back to you.
But I do want to just go to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who's still there in Abu Dhabi and there to join us live. If we can just bring Paula up. There you go.
So, Paula, now we're looking at Air Force One. It's pretty much come to a standstill, I think, or certainly our pitch is moving there. So we're expecting President Trump to disembark from the plane very soon.
And we know to talk to us about the royals who were there to meet with the President. We know Crown Prince bin Salman is there. So talk to us about what else is happening at this point and what we can expect.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we will be having the official greeting momentarily when the U.S. President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One. He will be met by the Crown Prince, as you say, Mohammed bin Salman. There will be a number of other dignitaries as well that will greet him and his entourage.
And there will be, we understand, a brief coffee ceremony within the airport itself before the U.S. President heads off to his hotel.
Now, we should be expecting over the coming hours a certain amount of pomp and ceremony. The U.S. President arriving at the Riyadh airport there, and you can see those dignitaries waiting to greet him.
Now, it is a significant day, certainly for Saudi Arabia. The fact that there is this Saudi-U.S. investment forum, as you were just hearing there, that the U.S. President will be making a keynote speech at. And there really is everyone who is anyone when it comes to the business world that is going to be attending that forum.
And as your guest was just saying, there is already at that forum, and there could be some very significant deals being announced at that particular moment.
But we do know that the U.S. President enjoys the pomp and ceremony of these kind of ceremonial events, and certainly Saudi Arabia knows that. We saw during his first term a huge amount of fuss was made, a huge amount of pomp and ceremony was put on for the U.S. President. And I think we can expect something very similar this time around as well.
And then later today, later this Tuesday, there will be a dinner between the Crown Prince MBS and the U.S. President with their entourages as well.
We are expecting a number of U.S. Secretaries to be in attendance. We have heard the Secretary of State, of Defense, of Commerce.
[03:05:01] So this is a very significant event for the U.S. government, the fact that so many of these secretaries will be in attendance as well.
CHURCH: And of course, now we're waiting. We can see they're sweeping the welcoming mat there and the stairs are ready, poised, and security is right at the top there. We're waiting for President Donald Trump to eventually disembark from the plane.
And of course, I mean, this is a big time and a big moment, isn't it, for Saudi Arabia? We're seeing a real shift and a real change. The fact that Donald Trump has chosen Riyadh as the first destination for his first major trip in the second term.
Talk to us about how significant that is and the sense that Israel will be feeling at this point.
HANCOCKS: Well, you really can't underplay the fact that Saudi Arabia has been chosen once again to be the first country for the first official presidential trip, apart from, of course, the Pope's funeral in Rome. It is a very significant factor for Riyadh, the fact that in the U.S. President's mind, they are the most important country that he wants to visit first of all.
In the past, we've seen U.S. presidents visit Canada, visit Mexico, the two neighboring countries, some visiting the United Kingdom, where there is said to be this special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K.
But this president has bucked that trend now for a second time, choosing to come to the Gulf, understanding that these three nations that he will be visiting over the next few days are more significant to him, that they can give him more, they can provide more for his goals and his agenda and policy going forward, not just in a financial state. Of course, we will expect to hear those significant investments and deals, but also from a geopolitical state, because we know that the U.S. President has used Saudi Arabia as a mediator when it comes to talking to Russia.
We know that they rely heavily on Qatar to try and secure a ceasefire with Hamas and Israel. And the UAE as well has played significant mediation roles, most recently with prisoner swaps when it comes to Russia and Ukraine. So the places where the United States does not have a significant influence or maybe does not have diplomatic niceties, this is where these Gulf nations come in extremely handy.
They have this neutral persona, if you like. They are allied with both Russia and Ukraine. They are allied with both China and the United States.
They are able to talk to Iran. So certainly the three countries that the U.S. president will be visiting over the coming days can play a very significant mediation role, an interlocutor role for the United States and for President Trump. So it isn't just about the economics, it isn't just about the finances, but of course that is a very significant part of it. The fact that President Trump himself said that he wants a trillion dollars in investments from Saudi Arabia after they had offered $600 billion. Now both of those are eye-watering amounts of money and of course some of them will be MOUs.
We are not expecting to see all this cash up front. It will be in promises and investments for years to come. But these three countries really can play a very significant role to allow the U.S. President to secure his agenda when it comes to both the financial side and also the geopolitical side.
CHURCH: And that is the thing, isn't it? Because in the past U.S. presidents, their trips overseas, really diplomacy has been the main aim. And we see this shift again with U.S. President Donald Trump because he is a transactional President.
And so now you could say that diplomacy and these economic agreements will go hand in hand, maybe of equal status. But as we watch this welcoming committee and we will of course see the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman will be there to greet him. This is very significant too, the diplomacy and the economic agreements, perhaps of equal status do you think, Paula, here?
[03:10:09]
HANCOCKS: I mean it's a good point, Rosemary. They definitely go hand in hand. I think it may change on any given day which is more prevalent in President Trump's mind and obviously depending on what's happening in the region and in the world at that moment.
But I mean another point to make is that President Trump is able to get a number of easy wins from this trip. There are going to be no difficult negotiations with leaders. There certainly will be no protests, which he would have if he went to the United Kingdom and most likely in Canada and Mexico as well, none of that has to be dealt with.
So on the face of it, it is a win-win situation for President Trump. The fact that he will be welcomed with open arms, potentially also with open checkbooks and the fact that there are countries willing to help with mediation and negotiation with countries he wants to either secure deals with, secure peace with, but is unable to do so because of the lack of diplomatic ties or any kind of ability to be able to talk to those different countries.
So it's difficult to see a downside for the U.S. President when it comes to the three countries that he has chosen to visit first. Saudi Arabia, obviously there will be no protests.
We will see a very warm welcome from the Crime Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We will see exactly the same with his entourage and it is an absolute easy win for the U.S. President.
CHURCH: Yes, and we all also understand that President Trump wanted to see the trade deal. Well, it wasn't a deal really, it was a pause, but certainly it was seen as a win and the markets read it as that. He wanted to have that apparent win at his back before he took this trip and certainly that has played out well for U.S. President Donald Trump, hasn't it?
HANCOCKS: Absolutely. He arrives here having had that win, having secured that deal. That is one thing that he can point to as a success and of course he arrives here also as the last known living American hostage in Gaza has been released, which he says he has been a very significant part of.
And you can see the Crown Prince there walking down the carpet towards the Air Force One where we will be expecting the U.S. President to walk down those stairs momentarily. So this greeting of these two men who are friends, they have had a lot of communication, coordination in the first term and in the second, of course the Crown Prince being the first to call President Trump after he won the election, the first to speak to him.
That in itself is significant and now his country is going to be once again the first country that U.S. President Donald Trump visits in an official capacity apart from the group's funeral.
And there's the U.S. President there.
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CHURCH: Well, very dramatic we saw there President Trump meeting up with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, now greeting other royals. Walk us through what is happening here and who he is speaking with at this point.
HANCOCKS: Well, we saw there a warm handshake, smiles from both leaders.
[03:15:01]
As I mentioned before, these are leaders that have a lot in common in many ways, what they want to achieve. We know Saudi Arabia with its highly ambitious economic vision wants to have these significant deals with the United States.
The U.S. President wants exactly the same and you can see them talking as they're walking down the carpet there. They have had a lot of interaction in the past, the Crown Prince being the first to phone and congratulate President Trump on his election for his second term. He did meet there briefly with a number of royals of the Saudi royal house as well.
And what we're expecting is they will walk into that building, they will be having some kind of ceremony. It's been described to us as a coffee ceremony where the official welcome will happen for the U.S. President and then he will go back to his hotel before going on to that investment forum.
So, this is really the briefer part of their interaction over the next half hour or so as they greet each other. Once again, we will be seeing them having a deeper interaction later on. They'll be having a dinner -- a state dinner, where their discussions can continue.
But we certainly see that these are two leaders who are very much at ease with each other. They appear to have a lot to say to each other, a gentle tap on the arm there. This is the reason that this is the first country that President Trump wanted to visit the second time around.
It was exactly the same for his first term as well and you can see the chairs laid out there. There will, it appears, be some significant audience watching as they have their coffee ceremony. We are expecting some kind of pomp and ceremony and this is what will be happening over the next few minutes.
Now, this is going to be the more public discussion and greeting that we will see in Saudi Arabia. Obviously, there will be some far more in-depth discussions between these two leaders that will likely happen at the dinner. Much of that will be behind closed doors.
CHURCH: Right. And we see, I think, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, I think that was him, and we're seeing the Defense Secretary there, Pete Hegseth, shaking the Crown Prince's hand and presumably they will all take a seat in this.
And there we see the Commerce Secretary, Lutnik, and others joining there for this meeting. So what will be this ceremony that you talk of, this coffee ceremony? What does that entail?
HANCOCKS: Well, we've been told it's a coffee ceremony. I'm afraid I don't have many more details than that. I think we will both learn together, Rosemary, exactly what this entails.
But the fact -- the interesting fact is, as you were mentioning there, that's what I was watching, the sheer number of U.S. secretaries that are there just shows how wide-ranging this meeting is going to be. You have State, Defense, Commerce, so many of the key elements of the U.S. administration will be heavily involved in this meeting, showing that this isn't just about the finances.
It's not just about these big deals, the investments. It's not just about a potential defense pact that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia could develop together. It is also about diplomacy with Secretary Rubio there. So it really is ticking every box that you could think of for one of these leader-to-leader meetings being able to cover so many of the key policies and the key agendas that the U.S. President would like to move forward.
CHURCH: And I know you are in Abu Dhabi, but can you speak to what the mood would be in Riyadh right now with this? What sort of excitement would there be at a broader base here for the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump?
HANCOCKS: Well, certainly there will be huge markings in the city. We've heard from our teams on the ground.
[03:20:00]
We've heard from guests speaking to us from Riyadh that there is plenty in the city itself to show that there is a very important state visit happening at this point. I mean, apart from just the royal purple carpet that we saw rolled out at the tarmac there to greet the U.S. President, you can see on the route from the airport to downtown, it's decorated with Saudi flags, with American flags, really commemorating this official state visit.
And we also understand, according to a social media post from Trump deputy chief-of-staff, that as Air Force One was coming in to land, they were actually escorted by Saudi F-15 military jets, which escorted them on their approach to the Riyadh airport.
So this goes back to the pomp and ceremony that we were discussing a little earlier, the fact that Saudi Arabia, the first time around, put on a huge amount of this pomp and ceremony to show the U.S. President their respect for him, their desire for this meeting to go well, obviously acknowledge that the U.S. President likes this kind of pomp and ceremony. And I think we can expect a lot more of this in the hours and days, of course, to come with Qatar and the UAE as well.
So this is really the more unofficial, I guess, the less formal arrival ceremony of the two of them, but with the entourages as well, and then later we will be seeing that more formal arrival ceremony with the Crown Prince, with the delegations, there'll be a lunch as well with CEOs, there will be bilateral meetings, agreements being signed, and then of course we will hear what we're being told is a keynote speech that will be given by the U.S. President at that U.S.- Saudi Investment Forum. Rosemary?
CHURCH: And now, it's difficult, of course, the angle of the cameras there. So what sort of attendance would there be in terms of audience? So we can see the U.S. President, obviously, and the Crown Prince and others, and the various secretaries from the United States, but who else would be present in that room?
HANCOCKS: Well, you will have the Saudi counterparts to each one of those secretaries. The fact that there will be diplomacy, there will be commerce, there will be defense, those three key pillars of any government.
There will be the Saudi equivalents to speak to their U.S. counterparts. You will also have a number of the Saudi royal family. You will have the wider entourage of both of the Crown Prince and also the U.S. President.
Now, I think the more public events will come later. The fact that we don't have the images from the host T.V. of what is happening now suggests that this could be a more informal greeting for the U.S. President, not necessarily for public consumption.
But we will certainly see plenty of that over the coming hours, especially with the Saudi U.S. Investment Forum. That's likely the first time that we will hear from the U.S. President, at least in an official capacity, giving a speech on this leg of his four-day trip. And we know that that will be heavily attended by CEOs from the U.S., from Saudi Arabia, and also some of the key players in the business world.
So that is potentially going to be a far more public event that will be shown to us. But this coffee ceremony, I think we can surmise now, is more of an informal, personal event that will happen between these two leaders and their significant entourages.
CHURCH: Absolutely. Paula Hancocks, great job. Thank you so much for taking us through those images you there in Abu Dhabi and, of course, those images of the U.S. President with the Crown Prince there in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
We will be right back, do stay with us.
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[03:25:00]
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CHURCH: Well, the surprisingly successful trade talks between the U.S. and China had unleashed a surge of hope through world markets. Wall Street soared on Monday, but at last check, the U.S. futures were in negative territory. You see the tech-heavy Nasdaq down nearly half a percent there, but we'll see what happens in the hours ahead when markets open.
And a look at the Asia-Pacific markets. The Nikkei in Japan is up nearly 1.5 percent, the Seoul KOSPI pretty flat there, but the Hang Seng is down nearly two percent. We'll keep a very close eye on that.
Well, China and the U.S. have agreed to slash tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days, but this is only a temporary fix. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout explains what risk factors remain and brings us reaction from the Chinese president.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Global markets have been rallying after the U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs for initial period of 90 days.
[03:30:02]
And Chinese President Xi Jinping is saying there are no winners in a trade war, but there is uncertainty, especially for businesses that remain in a tariff holding pattern.
Starting on Wednesday, May the 14th, for the next three months, the U.S. will lower tariffs on some Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent. China will lower tariffs on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
In an interview with Fox News, the U.S. trade representative said that China also agreed to lift export countermeasures after April the 2nd, including curbs on rare earth ingredients. U.S. tariff rates on small packages from China, this is known as de minimis, will also be decreased.
All this comes after a weekend of high stakes trade talks in Geneva, the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and China since the latest trade war escalated in March. Investors have been cheering the move, Chinese state media as well, and addressing a Latin American trade forum in Beijing today, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping repeated that well-worn line, there are no winners in a trade war.
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): The century- defining transformation is accelerating across the globe, with multiple risks compounding one another. Such developments make unity and cooperation among nations indispensable for safeguarding global peace and stability and for promoting global development and prosperity.
There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars. Bullying or hegemonism only leads to self-isolation.
LU STOUT: But businesses, investors, they want more clarity and reassurance. Look, 30 percent tariffs on China is a sharp drop from 145 percent, but it will still mean higher prices. Major U.S. trade concerns remain, like the trade deficit and Chinese subsidies for capital and labor, and the lower tariffs are in place only for a temporary period.
Look, Hong Kong-based economist Zhiwei Zhang points out this quote, "this is only a three-month temporary reduction of tariffs, so this is the beginning of a long process."
And Jane Foley, head of FX Strategy at Rabobank, adds this, quote, "the overall scenario is not as bad as it could have been, but we still have a fair amount of uncertainty about where these tariffs will settle, their impact on world growth and central bank policy."
So, 90 days is a welcome break from the trade war, but the clock is now ticking. The U.S. and China now have three months to reach a final trade deal.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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CHURCH: And earlier, I asked CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger, how big a breakthrough this is, given China didn't give up as much as the U.S. did.
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DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: If China doesn't look like gave up very much, and it's sort of interesting because the President, when he started down this tariff line more than a month ago, said to other countries, do not try to go match my tariffs, I will just come after you and do that. And of course, the Chinese ignored him. They both moved up to about 145 percent tariffs, so astoundingly high that no one would trade at all.
Well, it turns out the Chinese followed the right strategy, because that seemed to be such a potential calamity that the President brought it down in this conversation to 30 percent. There's some additional ones on steel, aluminum, autos, and so forth. And the question is, what's the next step? Is there really a full deal out of this?
But it was clearly unsustainable for both sides to have something as punishingly high as they were. Now, 30 percent tariffs, which is where they still stand, is still big enough to be pretty inflationary.
CHURCH: And what are you expecting to happen in 90 days from now?
SANGER: I think they will probably come up with something because China is such a large trading partner and such a strategic trading partner that they're going to have to. But I'm not sure at the end of the day, you're going to look at the Chinese concessions and say, they were all that great.
You know, the President said at that same press conference, you know, now, we're going to have free, open and complete trade with China. Well, that's what the United States thought when China joined the WTO in 1999. And in fact, it turned out that China used that membership to redefine many of the rules of trade, many of them to its advantage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: David Sanger there.
Still to come, silence from the Kremlin after Vladimir Putin proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine for this week. How the U.S., Ukraine and the E.U. are trying to push him to the table. We'll have that and more after a short break, stay with us.
[03:35:00]
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[03:40:03]
CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.
The sudden and temporary pause in the China-U.S. trade war has investors breathing a sigh of relief. The two countries agreed to slash tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days. The dramatic de- escalation sent global markets soaring on Monday.
Freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander is now back in Israel after his release by Hamas on Monday. The development followed days of talks between the militant group and the U.S., which had bypassed Israel to seal the deal. Israel's Prime Minister praised the U.S. President for securing Alexander's release.
President Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the start of his Middle East tour. It's the first state visit of his second term and he's touting it as his continued vision for prosperous and successful ties with the Middle East.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would welcome Donald Trump's presence at potential peace talks with Russian officials this week. The U.S. President said Monday he was thinking about flying to Turkey, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed direct talks with Ukraine.
Since that offer, though, the Kremlin has not confirmed whether Putin or any other official will actually show up. And Russia has continued its air attacks on Ukraine, ignoring Ukrainian and European calls for a 30-day ceasefire.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Salma. So what all can be achieved at these talks on Thursday if Russia's President Putin does not attend?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's begin by reminding our viewers, Rosemary, of how we landed here. And that is last weekend when European allies proposed -- demanded an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Now, President Putin responded to that in many ways that he has before by saying that he was interested in direct talks that would lead to a peace process with Ukraine.
Now, that proposal, that demand for a ceasefire from European allies, they said was backed by President Trump. But once President Putin made that call for direct negotiations, President Trump quickly shifted gears, demanding that President Zelenskyy agree to that meeting.
And of course, President Putin giving a date and a time. Turkey this Thursday, President Zelenskyy did agree to that. But up until now, we do not know from the Russian side who will attend or if President Putin will be there himself.
Take a listen to how President Zelenskyy put it.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I am ready to be in Turkey. Unfortunately, the world has not received a clear response from Russia regarding numerous proposals for a ceasefire.
Russian shelling and assaults continue. Moscow has remained silent all day regarding the proposal for a direct meeting. A very strange silence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Now, as you heard there, President Zelenskyy ready and willing to be in Turkey on Thursday for those talks. Also ready and willing potentially to be there is President Trump himself.
Now, he's just landed in Saudi Arabia. As you mentioned, he has said that he would pass by Turkey if, quote, "he found it to be helpful to be in attendance." President Zelenskyy has urged President Trump to come, but we still
are unclear on what the Kremlin will do. Their latest statement yesterday was that they are committed to direct talks without providing any details. And of course, you have to remember that throughout this, the conflict continues.
The bombs continue to drop. The attacks continue on Ukraine.
Now, this peace process or the attempt to start a peace process has, of course, started from the moment President Trump walked into that Oval Office. But there are also indications that his administration is tired, fed up with trying to get this peace process going. The Secretary of State saying that if there is no progress, just a few days ago saying this, that if there is no progress, they may just step back.
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks there to Salma Abdelaziz joining us live from London with that report. I appreciate it.
The U.N.'s Aviation Council has ruled that Russia was responsible for downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014. The plane was headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew.
It happened as pro-Russian separatists were battling Ukrainian forces in the region. In 2022, judges in the -- and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for the attack. Russia has denied responsibility.
[03:45:01]
Just ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," coercion or consent? That is the key question posed to a federal jury on day one of the criminal trial of Sean Diddy Combs, who faces charges of sex trafficking. We'll be back in just a moment with details on that.
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CHURCH: The parties are starting to arrive at court in Paris for the trial over the 2016 robbery of reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
[03:45:05]
She's expected to testify today about what happened to her during Paris Fashion Week nearly a decade ago. The group of suspects dubbed the Grandpa Gang are accused of stealing millions of dollars in jewelry from Kardashian at gunpoint.
Some of the jewels were recovered after the robbers escaped on foot. But one piece that has never been found is Kardashian's $4 million engagement ring from her previous marriage to rapper Kanye West.
A second day of testimony will begin in New York in the coming hours in the federal criminal trial of rapper Sean Diddy Combs. He has pleaded not guilty to five counts, including sex trafficking. The music mogul denies coercing women into days long sex parties known as freak offs, where victims say they were physically abused. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more.
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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even before singer and model Cassie Ventura testifies against 55 year old Sean Combs, her former boyfriend of more than a decade, she was front and center in the prosecution's opening statement as they described how Combs forced her to participate in his drug fueled freak offs, saying "half of every week Cassie was in a dark hotel room high and awake for days performing sex acts she did not want to on male escorts."
Prosecutors allege Combs used his power and fame as a leading hip hop artist to sexually abuse women from 2004 to 2024, including Ventura and a Jane Doe witness who will testify.
Prosecutors said that on one occasion, Combs forced a male escort to urinate in Ventura's mouth until she felt like she was choking. One of the first prosecution witnesses to take the stand, a man paid to have sex with Ventura, said that another time Ventura seemed drugged, "slumped over half on the couch, half off the couch." As Combs told him, "I don't think this is going to happen today."
It was Ventura seen on this surveillance video first published by CNN being kicked and dragged by Combs in a Los Angeles hotel, the prosecution says, after one of the alleged freak offs in 2016. If Cassie didn't do what the defendant wanted, the consequences were severe, the prosecution said.
Combs' attorney countered, calling the video overwhelming evidence of domestic violence. He's charged with running a criminal enterprise, she said. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.
The defense calling the couple's relationship complicated and that Ventura was uncontrollably jealous of Combs' infidelity.
Six years after the hotel incident, Combs thanked Cassie on stage at the 2022 BET Awards.
SEAN DIDDY COMBS, RAPPER: Also Cassie for holding me down in the dark times. Love.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): That speech called out the following year in Ventura's 2023 civil suit against Combs for Miss Ventura. The dark times were those she spent trapped by Mr. Combs in a cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking. Combs denied the allegations and the case was quickly settled with no admission of wrongdoing.
In opening statements, his attorney portrayed the civil suit as a cash grab. How many millions of reasons does the witness have to lie?
Many of Ventura's civil allegations are expected to come out in the criminal trial, like when Ventura was on a break from Combs and began a flirtatious relationship with an actor, whom CNN has now learned is Michael B. Jordan. In her suit, she alleges Combs called the actor and threatened him.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges he faces, including racketeering conspiracy, transportation to engage in prostitution and sex trafficking.
WAGMEISTER: Now, before court even began, I had a source tell me that the overarching theme of Combs' defense strategy is going to be that all of these relationships were consensual, consensual being the key word. Now I want to read you directly from my notebook from inside the courtroom.
His defense attorney during opening statements today said that the witnesses are, quote, "capable, strong adult women." So they are essentially going to say these women had the agency to make their own choices, even if these relationships were toxic. Therefore, Combs should not be held criminally liable.
Back to you.
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CHURCH: R&B superstar Usher spoke to college graduates in every Emory University here in Atlanta. The musician also received an honorary doctorate from the university. In his advice to the class of 2025, Usher told them to dream big, work hard, be passionate and embrace the challenges ahead.
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USHER, R&B MUSICIAN: Be a little unrealistic. Be a little delusional, even in your pursuit of happiness and fulfillment. And at the same time, be patient. Be respectful of the process, because life is filled with challenges and they would either make you or break you, but that's a choice and that choice is yours.
This world doesn't need more followers. It needs fearless architects of our future. And that's exactly who you are.
Be a dreamer, never stop imagining. Be better. Fight for a better life, fight for a better world.
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CHURCH: Thanks for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon is next.
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